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1.1.11-Pilferingapples
Brick!club Book 1 Chapter 11: A Reservation In Which I Am Actually Going To Have To Learn About Napoleon, Aren’t I Apologies for the greater than usual incoherence here today, my brain is melting into total sludge this week. I expect an improvement soon, but, well. Onward to attempted thinking! This is definitely one of the chapters where my lack of detailed world history knowledge does me in—anyone wanting to recommend a good “Napoleon for beginners” type book or website, it would be welcome. That said, I’m not sure it’s essential for this chapter; Hugo does a pretty good job of conveying the relevant points (as he sees them) through context, that Napoleon was popular while he was successful and people turned against him when he lost and that’s not the awesomest, although I do feel like if you’re a leader and you stop being good at that it’s actually ok for people to ex-leaderify you. It’s not like being someone’s friend, you’re there for a job. A job where you maybe just got a bunch of their friends killed in less successful military adventures? Yeah, I think it’s OKAY if folks decide your stock is not the hot property anymore. (and this book sets up pretty early that it Does Not Like Napoleon at all, which: heh). But this is supposedly not about Napoleon, and since I know Waterloo is coming I’m happy to roll with that! It’s nice to see Myriel and Baptistine have family besides each other (and makes their isolation seem kind of odd. Would/could neither of their other brothers take in their sister, if something happened to Myriel? Is it a church thing? Would she just determinedly waste away from despair?) I think Myriel’s partisanship is supposed to be a sign of weak character, but I actually like him rather more for it. It’s nice to see him engaging with the world a bit. I think I…actually want to know more about the Bishop again? His ardent pro-charity attitude is being applied in sensible directions at the gathering of bishops, he’s actually struggling to live up to his own ideals, and he’s visibly aware of specific personal problems in his flock. I *like* this guy, and not least because he’s kind of torn over how to approach political issues. Good job, chapter, good job. Commentary Gascon-en-exile Sometimes I love Hugo’s titles, even though I know by saying this I’m kind of piggybacking off a post yesterday listing some of the better ones. Oh, well. ”''Une restriction''” marks this whole chapter as an extended postscript to the last one, a sort “Disclaimer: Myriel was not actually that political” that goes on for a few paragraphs comprised mostly of political opinions. I get the feeling that Hugo doesn’t really know how to represent apolitical individuals in a manner that isn’t at least slightly negative - when he does get to praising the bishop’s priorities here, it’s framed in yet another jab against the materialism of the Church that only attacks Buonaparte in a roundabout way. Still, “''Le première preuve de la charité chez le prêtre, chez l’évêque surtout, c’est la pauvreté''" is one of the many nice little aphorisms of this livre, and possibly even a bit of wordplay/emphasis on a priest’s vow of poverty. I also detect some condemnation of political indecisiveness here, since over the span of years this chapter covers public opinions shifts quite rapidly in multiple directions. Even the diehard Bonapartist and nationalist bigot that Myriel makes his doorkeeper gets some sympathy, because at least he sticks to his convictions even though he’s now persecuted for them. That puts him in the same company as the conventionist - talk about strange bedfellows (or I would if the conventionist wasn’t already dead at this point…hmm, I think this metaphor fell apart somewhere). I think I’ll save actual discussion of Buonaparte for the dreaded Waterloo livre, because with my complete disinterest in military history or strategy (outside of FE and some other game series, because magic and fantasy and gayness make war fun!) I’ll have to find something to talk about for that long stretch. I’m predicting some comparisons to War and Peace, because in my opinion Tolstoy > Hugo when it comes to literary coverage of the Napoleonic wars. Mostly because Rostov has a huge adorable mancrush on the tzar… Pilferingapples (reply to Gascon-en-exile) Yeah, Hugo is not shy about valuing Conviction! and Involvement! even over, say, adaptive attitudes or flexibility. Not that he’s against those things— there’s a lot of personal metamorphosis for the good in this story, after all— but that there’s a difference between a shift in true ideals brought about by consideration and reflexive opinion, maybe? Also, reblogging for tags. Because YES, SHUDDER. I am in fear. Just trying to enjoy the Bishop chapters while I can…